New Delhi: The issue between Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra who was miffed with Presiding Officer Rama Devi during debate on the Motion of Thanks, is not the first one as similar tiff was witnessed when Samajwadi Party MP from Rampur Azam Khan allegedly used unparliamentary words for the chair during the debate on Triple Talaq in July 2019 and the Speaker expunged it later.
While the recent episode is between Moitra and Rama Devi in which the TMC MP alleged that she was not allowed to speak despite time was left on Thursday, Rama Devi, who presided over the Lok Sabha proceedings in regular Speaker Om Birla’s absence, was accused by Moitra of not letting her conclude her speech.
Speaking to media outside the House, Moitra had alleged she was not allowed to speak for 13 minutes allotted to her. The MP claimed that she was told to end her speech before she could conclude it.
Responding to the Bengal MP, Rama Devi said: “I just told her to speak in a soft tone, not to be so angry or aggressive while speaking in the Parliament. That is the established tradition of the House, and we all have been obeying it since decades.”
“I gave her proper time to present her views on President’s address as per Lok Sabha rules… even favoured her as we both are women. I always support women who try to excel, so there was no point to discourage her,” the BJP MP added.
Rama Devi is one of the members on the Speaker’s panel, who presides over the House proceedings if the Speaker is not present in the House.
She had interrupted Moitra when the latter’s allotted time to speak was about to end, which upset the Trinamool MP.
On Friday, the Lok Sabha Speaker raised the issue in the Parliament and stressed on maintaining the decorum of the House, both inside and outside.
A similar incident had happened in July 2019 when Rama Devi was presiding over the House. During debate on Triple Talaq, Khan, made statements that were termed unparliamentary, improper by several members from the treasury benches who got upset and urged the Chair to demand an apology from Khan.
When Rama Devi at the chair asked Khan to apologise, he had said he meant no disrespect to the chair. He had insisted that he had long been in politics, and was ready to immediately resign if any remark he made was found to be objectionable.
The Speaker had said maintaining the dignity of the House was the responsibility of all members. “A party may have more numbers, but the House runs on consensus… members want remarks to be expunged. But we should not make statements that have to be expunged. When people hear such statements, they form an opinion about MPs,” Om Birla said.
The comments Made by Azam Khan, and most of the exchange, between Khan and other members, were later expunged from the proceedings of the House.
–IANS